Assessing impact of Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda on forest reserves- SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

forest reserves

As Nigeria revs up the drive to diversify her economic base in the face of dwindling oil revenue, environment experts have raised fresh concerns over possible negative effects of the diversification agenda on the nation’s forest reserves.


Sequel to the dwindling economy, the Federal Government has decided to diversify its monolithic economy. Development analysts believe that the diversification agenda has become necessary, following the drop in global oil prices and more importantly, structural defects in the nation’s economic system According to them, the drive to diversify the economic base of the country remains desirable, however, they have raised serious concerns that the nation’s forest reserves might be altered due to possible commercial activities, which might put pressure on forest reserves. For instance, experts have disclosed that in the last twenty-five years, the nation has witnessed phenomenal growths in wealth creation, technological advancement as well as reduction in poverty of many countries; however, the externalities of these advancements have left the environment in peril.

Though, diversification of economy is apt at this austere time; however, experts have warned that states and federal governments should be mindful of possible impacts of diversifying the nation’s economy. According to them, the fear stems from the fact that deforestation was high when the economy has not been diversified, wondering what would be the situation presently when the federal government is planning to diversify, saying, envisaging that the situation might be worse at this particular point in time.

 Expressing his concerns, the President, Forestry Association of Nigeria, FAN, Prof. Labode Popoola said, Nigeria is blessed with large expanse of land as well as different vegetations, regretting that this important resource has not been sustainably used or managed. According to him, the total land area in the country was 923,678km2 with an estimated population of over 150 million people, disclosing that the forest area has been continuously in decline due to agricultural and commercial activities associated with the forest.

Other factors identified by the expert include, non-forest policies, particularly, energy policies, which have continually posed grievous threats to the forest sector. He also noted that budget allocations to forestry had dropped to a mere 2 percent of the total annual budget while states still embark on aggressive revenue generation through uncontrolled logging. Nigeria’s massive forestation shows no sign of achieving the 25 percent forest cover.

The country used to achieve this percentage in the 70s, even as the country had achieved 30 percent of its land area under forests, but presently, the figure has been as low as 10 percent, thus threatening the 25 percent forest cover by the year 2020. However, the country can return to its past glory, if it engages in massive forestation as government is spending so much on seedling production, instead of engaging in tree planting. Also, the President, Board of Trustees, Nigeria Conservation Foundation, NCF, Chief Philips Asiodu has warned against altering the forest in the course of diversification of the economy. Asiodu has noted that, adequate care must be taken to protect the nation’s environment, expressing doubt that if the advise was not taken, the country’s target of achieving 25 percent forest cover might be a ruse. “There is no doubt that we need to diversify our economy, especially as the oil price has fallen in the global market.

However, we should be very careful with our forest reserve to ensure that we protect our environment and also achieve 25 percent cover in the next few years”, he stated. The NCF boss also said the foundation has concluded plans to pursue strategic actions, aimed at returning the country’s vegetation to 25 per cent cover with a five-year strategic plan to engage all stakeholders to achieve the objective. Already, investigation has shown that the transformation of forests into agricultural lands has reduced the biodiversity.

Agri-business is responsible for massive rainforest destruction as forests are burned to make way for cattle ranches, or cleared for palm oil or soya plantations. In this way, irreplaceable rainforests are converted into products that are used to make toothpaste, chocolate and animal feed. Industrial logging for timber, pulp and paper has also devastated much of the world’s rainforests.

Not only are ancient trees cut down on a vast scale, but unplanned and inefficient practices lead to enormous additional wastage. And, by building roads into pristine rainforests, the logging industry opens them up to secondary effects like human settlement, hunting, fuel-wood gathering and agriculture. Experts said deforestation contributes to climate change, accounting for one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is why Indonesia is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter and Brazil the fourth as the climate change itself threatens forests on a terrifying scale.

Extraordinary amount of evolution- Ogbeh ary history is sustained in diversified farming systems, which outlines a strategy for balancing agricultural activities as well as conservation efforts. Many of the most threatened and endangered animals live in forests and millions of people rely on the benefits forests can offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter. Forests are under threat from deforestation, thus jeopardizing these benefits. Deforestation, experts noted, comes in many forms, including fires, clearcutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This no doubt, impacts people’s livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species.

Data shows that 46-58, 000square miles of forests, equivalent to 48 football fields, are lost annually. It must be noted that forests play critical roles in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink, soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns. It however undermines this important carbon sink function, as it is estimated that 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions have been as a result of deforestation. Deforestation is a particular concern in tropical rainforests because these forests are too much of the world’s biodiversity.

Already, thousands of non-native invasive plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and disease-causing pathogens are infesting millions of acres of lands and waters across the nation. These invaders cause massive disruptions in ecosystem function, reducing biodiversity, and degrade ecosystem health in our nation’s forests, prairies, mountains, wetlands, rivers, and oceans.

Invasive species affect the health of not only the nation’s forests and rangelands, but also the health and survival of wildlife, livestock, fish, and humans. Around the world, lush tropical forests are being logged for timber and pulp, cleared to grow food, and destroyed by the impacts of climate change. Four fifths of the forest that covered almost half of the Earth’s land surface eight thousand years ago have already been irreplaceably degraded or destroyed. Diversification through non-oil exports remains the new and only avenue for developing the economy and achieving prosperity – as oil has become unreliable.

It is in pursuit of this goal that the Federal Government has now marked out 13 National Strategic Export Products that are meant to replace oil and shore up the country’s foreign exchange earnings. This is part of the spirited moves by the government towards reviving the dwindling national economy with emphasis on rapid growth of the non-oil sector for exports. In this regards, 13 National Strategic Export Products in three categories are now in focus.

These include agro industrials such as oil palm, cocoa, cashew, sugar and rice; mining-related products including cement, iron ore and metals, auto parts and cars, aluminium and oil and gas. The third categories include industrial products such as petroleum products, fertiliser and urea, petrochemical and methanol. Nigeria needs to join the league of other successful nations.

But investment in development of the sector is germane. For instance, the upswing in the United Arab Emirate’s economy and its transformation has been made possible by the government investing revenues derived from oil in other sectors of the economy.

Already, the activities deemed as being critical for successful diversification are at their various stages of implementation. These activities are macro-economic stability, addressing of supply side constraints, the provision of adequate pre and post-export incentives, revitalization and provision of export processing zones, export production facilities, and industrial parks and clusters targeted at export manufacture.